Land degradation during the Bronze Age in Hexi Corridor (Gansu, China)

Abstract

Pollen and charcoal analysis, with high resolution AMS 14C dating, on two sediment sections in the Hexi Corridor track the process of settlement development and abandonment during the Bronze Age. The evidence shows that agricultural activity during the Bronze Age caused an increase in farmland and a decrease in the abundance of Artemisia grassland in the Hexi Corridor. Land degradation is probably the main cause for decreased agricultural activity and settlement abandonment. Agriculture- induced soil fertility loss and land salinization contributed to the process of land degradation. However, increasing climate aridity around 4000–3500 cal BP is probably the main initiating cause for the contraction of arable land and vegetation degradation in the Hexi Corridor.